Joanne Greenbaum’s dynamic ball point sketches for M.Legere, culled from the pages of her private sketch books look like moving parts of an electronic device that are ready to spiral into any direction. Giving herself utmost freedom, there is never a goal or wish to satisfy a viewer. Appearing to be made by an Etch-A-Sketch mastermind, or a plotting machine that crashed, the sketches jump off the x-y axis. Yet they could only have been made by hand. The porcelain just-about contains the energy of the drawings. It’s the expression of possibility and potential, much like a party with an unexpected mix of guests.

Known for her limitless, joyous palette and beloved mishmash of art materials, these private works parallel in smaller scale here, where we see the power of her hands, her personal “script” rather than her very physical act of painting and sculpture, her creative process which she describes as her “performance with material”.

This egalitarian ballpoint gives this series pride of place among blue and white porcelain and earthenware throughout history, from 9th century Chinese to Staffordshire and Delftware, and the greatness of Limoges porcelain.